Patrol releases new details of fatal crash

December 1, 2012

EAST PALESTINE - A 20-year-old Glenwood Avenue man killed Nov. 18 in a one-car accident was driving a stolen truck at nearly 100 miles per hour when he crashed, according to a report released Friday by the Lisbon post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

Taylor D. Bilbo was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash on state Route 558 in Unity Township after the 2007 Chevy 1500 truck he was driving went off the side of the roadway, striking a ditch, becoming airborne, striking a tree then coming to rest in a creek.

When the truck went airborne, Bilbo was ejected, according to reports.

In the finalized report, troopers cited unsafe speed as a contributing factor to the crash, noting Bilbo was traveling 98 miles per hour on the 55-mph stretch of roadway south of state Route 46. The report also indicated Bilbo was under the influence, with alcohol suspected.

The investigation revealed the truck Bilbo was driving had been taken without permission from owner Sammy Adams, Boardman Street, New Waterford, who told troopers he had parked it in his driveway about 3:45 a.m. that day and that it was still there at 4:15 a.m., which he knew because he had been working in the garage until that time.

The doors were left unlocked and the keys inside when Adams went into the house, and it wasn't until he was notified at 6:52 a.m. that day by troopers that it had been involved in the crash that he realized it had been taken, according to reports.

Bilbo's father had told troopers he believed his son was attending a party close to Adams' house the previous night.